A
Blind Esperantist’s
Trip to
Finland and Sweden,
to attend
The Fourteenth Esperanto Congress
and after.
By W. Percy Merrick.
On Thursday, August 3rd, my wife and I left Hull on the “Arcturus”with some fifty other Esperantists, including Mr. John Merchant(President), and Mr. Warden (ex-President), of the British EsperantoAssociation. Until Saturday the sea was smooth, though the weatherwas dull, and we all ate heartily and chatted and joked in holidaymood. The ship’s company were all Finn’s, and none of them spoke acomprehensible language except the Captain and Purser, who spokeEnglish well. The waitresses were very demure, some of them wearingtheir hair strained back from the forehead in puritan fashion. Theonly time they were known to laugh, despite the efforts of the morefrivolous members of the party to make them do so, was on the Sundayevening, when one of the tables having been vacated by the diners, alurch of the ship shot all the crockery on to the floor in a heap ofruins; then they stood round and laughed merrily; here was a realjoke!
The meals were served in the Finnish manner: a substantial breakfastat nine; lunch at twelve, and dinner at six began with hors d’œuvres,set out on a special table, from which you chose what you thoughtyou would need before taking your place. There was usually aquantity of pickled fish, cold ham, tongue, sausage, salad, butter,cheese, and several kinds of bread, one of the nicest being the“hard-bread”—half rusk, half biscuit—of which all Scandinaviansseem very proud. Then the hot meat, and at dinner, fruit or a largeportion of ice was brought to you. Throughout our stay in Finland wecould never quite solve the problem as to how much of the horsd’œuvres we ought to appropriate in order to leave the exact amountof accommodation for the dishes that were to follow.
Friday evening we came to the Kiel Canal, and during the night werejoined by some German and other Esperantists, among whom wereseveral who were blind; Dr. Bano, from Budapest, Miss Polandova,from Prague, and three or four from Germany. Mr. Stejskal, ofPrague, and Mr. Hendricx, of Ghent, both energetic helpers of theblind, saw to their safety and comfort. We much enjoyed long talkswith them on the Saturday, when the sun shone brilliantly all day.
Sunday was “a day of rest but not of gladness,” and after breakfastmost of us retired to our cabins, the few who did not succumbfeeling very proud of themselves. By lunch time some of us wereconvalescent, but the Esperanto service so elaborately arranged theday before did not take place, as both of the clergymen and most ofthe congregation had more pressing engagements. But on Mondaymorning we were all alive again and enjoyed a sunny entry into thebeautiful bay of Helsingfors with its many islands, and the townwith its fine buildings and churches spread out before us. A largecrowd of Esperantists, with flags and cries of welcome, received uson the quay and guided us to our hotels as soon as we had made apurely formal procession through the customs. Here we scored overnon-esperantist passengers, who had their baggage searcheddiligently! Our hotel, the “Fennia,” was most comfortable, with anEnglish-speaking porter. Their big ices after dinner, strewn withraspberries or strawberries and drowned in cream, quite won thehearts of their lady visitors.
Most of the blind congressists were entertained for the whole timegratis, at the blind school, a large stone building with widecorrido